THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 21, 1994 TAG: 9410210862
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
THE IDEA of an intelligent movie coming out of the ``Nightmare on Elm Street'' series is about as unlikely as the sun not rising. That is why ``Wes Craven's New Nightmare'' is such a surprise.
For the past decade, the ``Nightmare'' films have perplexed critics - and logical people everywhere - with their cheap gore and extreme violence. The population of shapely teenage girls was in cinematic jeopardy. At one point, the only way to sit through the nonsense was to occupy oneself with counting the number of victims.
Among the more irritating features in these films was the use of ``dreams'' to excuse the endless killings. Lazy writers could get away with any kind of death simply by having the characters wake up. The films made no sense.
In the meantime, Freddy Krueger, complete with knife-like nails, became a bona fide cult phenomenon. For better or worse, he will be recorded as a part of American culture in the 1980s. His popularity with children is quite notable - despite the fact all the films were rated R. Blame it on loose ratings enforcement or video rentals. The tots, one supposes, see Freddy as a defiance of adult authority.
One of this year's surprises was that ``Wes Craven's New Nightmare'' turned out to be the hit of the Toronto International Film Festival. Word was that audiences and critics had proclaimed it a ``state-of-the-art horror creation.''
I can't go quite that far, but it is true that this new entry is significantly better than any in the series. Writer-director Craven has come up with the idea that Freddy has now broken out of the films and into reality. Playing himself, Freddy, who was killed off in each of the films, now plans to get into the world beyond movies. The only way to stop him, we're told, is to make another movie and kill him off again.
It sounds more than a little hokey, but Craven, using actors from the earlier films, creates a good deal of fairly logical tension. The fantasy vs. reality gimmick almost approaches the level of the writer Pirandello.
Heather Langenkamp, the actress who was most prominent in the third edition, plays herself, claiming that Freddy is making telephone calls again. Robert Englund, who plays Freddy, appears as himself, as does John Saxon. Notably, Kevin Bacon and other more successful veterans of the series declined to return.
Craven has claimed that this new film is aimed at the 25- to 30-year-old audience - the audience that made the initial films popular. The idea of an adult ``Nightmare'' is interesting, and partly achieved.
The idea, again, is that the victims can only be molested when they go to sleep. Freddy can get into the real world only if he gets past Heather, who is something like a gatekeeper. He tries to get past her by taking over the being of her young son. The idea of the dream world being used for villainy has more frightening possibilities than these silly films, even this one, have realized.
Things are marred a bit by a terrible child actor, Tracy Middendorf, who is constantly asked to react to horrors, even though it is clear he is not terrified. His reactions look as if they were filmed in a different studio.
The degree of confusion in mixing performers in the film-within-the-film is illustrated by the fact that Englund is credited with playing himself, as is a separate billing with Freddy Krueger playing himself.
Things are intriguing along the way, but the finale is the same old long-fingernail noise. Nonetheless, this is by far the most logical and worthwhile of the series. It isn't saying a lot, but it's saying something. ILLUSTRATION: Photos
JOSEPH VILES/New Line Cinema
Heather Langenkamp plays a mother comforting her son (Miko Hughes)
in ``Wes Craven's New Nightmare.''
Robert Englund, who plays Freddy, also appears as himself.
Graphic
MOVIE REVIEW
``Wes Craven's New Nightmare''
Cast: Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon
Director and writer: Wes Craven
MPAA rating: R (gore, but not as much as usual for this series)
Mal's rating: Two 1/2 stars
Locations: Movies 10 in Chesapeake; Circle 6 and Main Gate in
Norfolk; Kemps River and Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach
by CNB